If the pinwheel topping doesn't draw you in, the bubbly fruit underpinning will

Talk about a breakfast dish that can launch your weekend right. This will get your heart singin’ on a Saturday morning--or any time.

Apple-Cherry Cobbler with Pinwheel Biscuits was outasight good—and not nearly as complex as it looks, either. Biscuit dough (which was very easy to manage) was rolled with almonds and brown sugar to form the pinwheels. Apples and cherries (in our case, I subbed frozen blackberries—dreaming of the day when our garden’s vines will produce our own fruit) make up the filling that bakes under the biscuits.

This makes a pretty, company-special breakfast or brunch dish, but the two of us (sans company) had a terrific time with it as well.

Apple-Cherry Cobbler with Pinwheel Biscuits

Apple-Cherry Filling:

8 large Braeburn apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (about 4 1/2 pounds)

2 cups sugar (I used sugar substitute)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

1 (12-ounce) package frozen cherries, thawed and well-drained (I used frozen blackberries)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinwheel Biscuits:

2 1/4 cups all-purpoe flour

1/4 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

2/3 cup milk (I used skim)

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup finely chopped roasted unsalted almonds

Prepare filling: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together first 3 ingredients. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add apple mixture. Cook; stir often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until apples are tender and syrup thickens. Remove from heat; stir in cherries and next three ingredients. Spoon apple mixture into a lightly greased 3-quart baking dish. Bake apple mixture for 12 minutes. To catch any drips place a baking sheet on oven rack directly below baking dish.

Prepare biscuits: In a large bowl stir together 2 1/4 cups flour and next 3 ingredients. Use pastry blender or fork to cut cold butter pieces into flour mixture until crumbly; stir in milk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 4 to 5 times. Roll dough into a 12-inch square. Combine brown sugar and 2 tablespoons melted butter; sprinkle over dough; pat gently. Sprinkle with almonds. Roll up, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seams and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices in a single layer on top of apple mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Serve with whipped cream if desired. Makes 8 to 10 servings. (Recipe source: Southern Living February 2012).

Apple-pear cobbler with an oatmeal muffin on top—that's the idea of this great dessert

Baked apples and baked pears—doesn’t that sound as though it would be a divine combination in a cobbler? Then top it with a crust that tastes like a warm oatmeal muffin—how absolutely scrumptious!

That was what I thought when I read the recipe for Caramel Apple-Pear Cobbler with Oatmeal Muffin Crust. I couldn’t wait to get it all whipped up and ready to stick into the oven. The results indeed were heavenly—as good as it gets where fall desserts are concerned.

One of the neat things about this cobbler idea is that its topping, the Oatmeal Muffin Crust, can just as easily be used to make regular oatmeal muffins. If you take the batter and spoon it into greased muffin cups in a muffin pan and alter the cooking time just slightly, some flavorful muffins will appear from the oven. But as a top layer for the combined apples and pears, it was just too good to be believed. Dig down past the oatmeal-muffin layer; you’ll find some tender apples and pears that have been merged to make a terrific filling.

The mixture is great with sugar-free ice cream or sugar-free whipped topping. All the thanks go to www.myrecipes.com, which reprinted the instructions for this wonderful cobbler from the September 2004 issue of Southern Living.

Caramel Apple-Pear Cobbler

3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

3 large pears, peeled and sliced

Oatmeal Muffin Batter (see below)

Garnish: toasted pecan halves

Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to coat apples. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apple mixture; bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add pears to skillet and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Spoon the hot fruit mixture into a lightly greased 10-inch (8-cup) deep-dish pie plate or shallow 2-quart baking dish. Spoon Oatmeal Muffin Batter evenly over fruit mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Garnish with toasted pecan halves if you desire.

Oatmeal Muffin Batter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup uncooked regular oats

1/2 cup chopped dates (I subbed raisins)

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, lightly beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

In a large mixing bowl combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Make a well in center of mixture. Stir together milk, melted butter, and lightly beaten egg; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. (If you want to use the batter for oatmeal muffins, spoon batter evenly into lightly greased muffin cups in a muffin pan. Fill them 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 10 muffins.)

Love pecan pie? Love apple cobbler? Get them both with this sweet treat

After I had cooked almost everything apple-y in the September 2011 Southern Living issue featuring the fall’s favorite fruit, I saw it in tiny print: find 25 more irresistible apple recipes at southernliving.com/apples.

More apple recipes? Surely no stone was left unturned from this bounty that I had just cooked my way through.

Ha! Was I wrong! Dozens of to-die-for, rich apple recipes awaited me at this amazing website. The first to pique my curiosity was this one for Apple-Pecan Pie Cobbler. I loved that these could be cooked in individual custard cups so that each person could have his or her own individual pecan pie (or is it apple cobbler?)

The recipe also noted that the mixture for the Pecan-Pie topping of the cobbler could be used separately to make Mini Pecan Pie Muffins in miniature muffin cups. But for now I wanted to try this combination.

So I could prepare this for Hubby’s Saturday-morning breakfast, I assembled as many of the ingredients and mixed what I could on Friday night so that on Saturday morning, I basically had only to cook the skillet apples and then layer everything into the greased custard cups. That way he wouldn’t have such a huge wait, which was a tough one under any circumstances after the wonderful aroma of this sweet treat began pouring from the oven.

The recipe didn’t mention anything about topping this with fat-free whipped topping or sugar-free ice cream; wouldn’t hurt, although these little cobblers stood alone without any addition.

Apple-Pecan Pie Cobbler

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced (about 3 pounds)

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

In a large bowl toss together first 3 ingredients. In a large skillet over medium-high heat melt butter; add apple mixture and corn syrup; stir often. Cook for 10 minutes. Divide hot apple mixture evenly between 6 lightly greased 6-ounce ovenproof ramekins or custard cups. Spoon Pecan Pie Muffin Batter (recipe below) evenly over hot apple mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 servings.

Pecan Pie Muffin Batter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking power

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine first 5 ingredients. Make a well in center of mixture. Stir together butter, eggs, and vanilla; add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. (You also can use this batter to make Pecan Pie Muffins. If making muffins spoon batter evenly into lightly greased miniature muffin pans. Fill three-fourths full. Bake at 425 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 24 muffins.)